Notes: Pollard not returning ‘anytime soon’ for Dayton Flyers

A two-game losing streak doesn’t signal the end of the world — not even for a team that hadn’t lost consecutive games for two years and three weeks.

However, fans of the No. 15/13 Dayton Flyers have a right to be concerned with four games left in the regular season. Dayton lost 79-70 at St. Joseph’s on Wednesday in Philadelphia and 79-72 to St. Bonaventure at UD Arena on Saturday.

Dayton didn’t have junior forward Kendall Pollard in either game. He has missed three straight games because of a deep knee bruise and might miss at least a few more.

“Kendall’s not coming back anytime soon from what I can gather,” Dayton coach Archie Miller said.

Asked to elaborate on that, Miller said Pollard is still day to day. The coaches will continue to be cautious with Pollard in hopes they can preserve him for March.

Freshman Sam Miller started in Pollard’s place for the third straight game and had no points, no rebounds and three fouls in six minutes. Senior Bobby Wehrli played meaningful minutes for the second straight game and had two points and one rebound in 17 minutes. Freshman Xeyrius Williams had one rebound in two minutes.

“(Wehrli’s) hanging in there and giving us good minutes,” Miller said. “We’re trying to get anything we can get out of that position.”

Star performance: St. Bonaventure's Jaylen Adams entered the game as the fourth-leading scorer in A-10 games (19.2 points per game). He ranked 12th in the nation in 3-point percentage (45.7) before the game.

Adams scored 31 points, matching his career high, against the Flyers on 5-of-9 shooting from 3-point range.

“He’s a good player,” Dayton junior guard Charles Cooke said. “He can really shoot the ball. He can create. He hit some really big shots.”

Milestone: Cooke led the Flyers with 22 points and now has 1,021 in his career. He scored 615 points in his first two seasons at James Madison. He has 406 in his first season at Dayton.

Next game: Dayton plays at Saint Louis at 8 p.m. Tuesday. The Flyers beat the Billikens 73-37 at UD Arena on Jan. 27.

Saint Louis (9-16, 4-9) played at Fordham (13-11, 4-9) on Saturday night. The Billikens ended a five-game losing streak Wednesday with a 79-77 overtime victory at George Mason.

Saint Louis is 2-4 at Chaifetz Arena in A-10 play. It beat George Washington 65-62 on Jan. 6 and Davidson 96-87 on Jan. 20.

Around the A-10: A four-game winning streak ended for St. Joseph's (22-5, 11-3) on Saturday with a 99-93 loss at Davidson (16-9, 8-6). Jack Gibbs scored 35 points for the sixth-place Wildcats, who trail George Washington (19-7, 8-5) by a half game.

Dayton (21-5, 11-3) and St. Joseph’s trail Virginia Commonwealth (20-7, 12-2) by a game with four games to play. VCU beat Richmond 87-74 on Friday.

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